John Chambers: IT Must Get ‘Deeply Embedded’ With Business Processes

Cisco Systemsaims to double the share of revenue it makes from software in the next five years, as the explosive growth of data centers offers the network gear maker new territory in which it can expand, Chief Executive John Chambers told Dow Jones Newswires on Tuesday.

At the same time, Dow Jones reported, Chambers echoed other technology executives’ caution about the state of business spending and the federal regulatory climate, saying any improvement in the global economy must come from the U.S.

Yet, businesses and governments that don’t invest in technology won’t be able to grow and they won’t see the savings and efficiencies that come from the use of technology, he said during a wide-ranging interview on stage with two Gartner analysts.

He also addressed attendee questions, which were broadcast at the beginning of the session, before he took the stage. Their concerns included the increasing complexity of IT, (Chambers said Cisco would try to reduce it), and whether Chambers is serious when it comes to software-defined networking (he is). They also wanted to know what’s next in innovation at the company.

“Over the next five years, the fabric of IT – if we do our job right – will be so deeply embedded in every business process, regardless of industry that you won’t know the difference between the business models, the process and IT,” he said. Getting to this point will be a challenge, though. “This is where IT professionals have to change, including my own,” he said.

Because IT will become so deeply embedded in our lives and work, it will require CIOs to become adept at both business and IT skills. That skill set is difficult to find and there will likely be a shortage of talent to fill that dual role, he said.

Cisco began to address this issue a few years ago when Rebecca Jacoby became the CIO. “She has an expertise, that just doesn’t happen to be IT,” he said. Her experience is in business operations and “she’s good at taking hard, complex projects and seeing them through,” said Chambers. While she didn’t have a background in IT when she became CIO, she appointed a team with knowledge of various areas such as data centers, collaboration and social networking. The team she has assembled lets her leverage their experience and insights about IT into her business-driven decision-making.

Ironically, even a forward-thinking CEO like Chambers is defining Jacobs’ experience in terms of the technology-business divide he’s trying to bridge. We’d love to hear what you think about whether it’s possible to actually erase the divide – please let us know in the comments. Or send us a note.

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